Osgood building targeted for housing

Monday

Aug 4, 2014 at 12:50 PMAug 4, 2014 at 8:50 PM

By Nick Kotsopoulos

The owner of the mostly vacant Osgood Bradley building behind Union Station wants to convert it into housing.

Vision Development Inc., the petitioner for property at 8 Grafton St., has filed a special permit application with the Zoning Board of Appeals. The special permit would allow housing in a BG-6 (business-general) zone.

Presently located on the site at Grafton and Franklin streets is an eight-story, 160,000-square-foot commercial building that was built in 1914, three years after Union Station was originally built. It has also served as a factory over the years. In addition to being located in a business zone, the building is also within the Union Station View Corridor Sign Overlay District, the Mixed Use Development Overlay District, the Downtown/Blackstone Canal Sign Overlay District and the Blackstone Canal Parking Overlay District.

According to the petition, the developer wants to convert the brick and stone building into an 84-unit, multi-family residential high-rise, with a mix of one-, two- and four-bedroom dwelling units. The zoning board is scheduled to take up the petition at its meeting Aug. 18.

According to city assessing records, Bradford P. Wyatt (trustee) and 18 Grafton Street Nominee Trust are listed as the owners of the Osgood Bradley building. The building was acquired in 2011 for $700,000. The city currently assesses the property at $2.88 million.

It is the second housing development project planned for the Franklin and Franklin Street area. Earlier this year, the Planning Board approved plans to redevelop an underused 2.6-acre area off Franklin Street, near the Franklin Street fire station, into a 350-unit apartment complex.

Ding On "Tony" Kwan of Framingham, the developer, predicted that his ambitious $35 million redevelopment project will spur further development in the Franklin Street area and end up attracting new small businesses.

Habitat for Humanity readies for another house

The College Hill Civic Association's former clubhouse at 79 Kendig St., which for decades served as an important community gathering spot for College Hill residents, is being eyed for conversion to a single-family home. Habitat for Humanity Metro West/Greater Worcester, owner of the property, will be going before the Zoning Board of Appeals on Aug. 18 to seek a special permit so it can make alterations and change the use of the non-conforming structure.

Habitat for Humanity wants convert the one-story, 3,016-square-foot building into a single-family detached structure with two off-street parking spaces. But it needs a special permit from the zoning board, because the building does not meet to the city's front-yard setback zoning requirements.

Because it was built before the zoning requirement were put into place, the building was "grandfathered" and is thus considered a non-conforming structure.

The College Hill Civic Association was founded in 1934 and in 1947 its members built a one-story clubhouse on Kendig Street. But the building fell into disrepair in recent years. Suffering from declining membership, the civic association has not had the money needed to invest in the upkeep of its buildings. The building has no heat, its windows are in need of major repairs, the front porch is badly deteriorated, it lacks handicapped access and it isn't even connected to the city's sewer system — it has a cesspool that isn't functional.

Last year, the association's board of directors reached an agreement to donate the building to Habitat for Humanity, but that action created a firestorm among College Hill residents. Their biggest complaint was over the process that was used to reach that agreement, with some residents saying they were left in the dark about the whole thing.

Last October, Habitat for Humanity bought the property from the College Hill Civic Association for $100, according to city assessing records. For this fiscal year, the city has assessed the property at $223,400 - $125,700 for the building and $97,700 for the land, which consists of a 9,437-square-foot lot.

National Grid seeks separation

National Grid is looking to create a greater buffer between its Cook’s Pond substation, 30 Tory Fort Lane, and nearby residences by erecting noise barriers along the north and south sides of the substation.

The Conservation Commission gave the project the green light Monday night by unanimously determining that the state’s and city’s wetlands control ordinances do not come into play for it.

National Grid intends to replace the chain-link fence that currently surrounds the substation and put up in its place a 24-foot-high wooden wall along the northerly side of the substation and a 20-foot-high wall along the southerly side.

One wall will be about 162 feet in length while the other will be about 137 feet long, and they will be constructed within the footprint of the existing fence.

National Grid said the proposed barriers are intended “to both attenuate noise and provide screening to abutters.”

When National Grid last year proposed building a 90-foot-high communications tower at its Tory Fort Lane substation, as part of its smart grid pilot program, residents complained about the constant humming noise coming from the station and how unsightly it was in the middle of what is a residential neighborhood.

Before National Grid can put up the noise barriers, it has to obtain a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals. A variance is needed because the maximum height for an accessory structure in an RS-7 (residential-single family) zone is 15 feet, according to the city’s zoning requirements.

The company’s petition for a variance goes before the zoning board Aug. 18.

Newton Hill improvements

State Sen. Harriette L. Chandler, D-Worcester, has announced that $100,000 in state funding has been secured for the maintenance of walking trails at Newton Hill and related improvements at Elm Park.

By securing the state funding, which will be administered by the city, Ms. Chandler said: "We continue to invest in an important historical and recreational piece of Worcester."

Contact Nick Kotsopoulos at nicholas.kotsopoulos@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @NCKotsopoulos

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.